


Miles Away

by laffytaffylafayette



Series: American Candy (The Maine - Hetalia) [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: China England France Canada mentioned, Doesn't follow the song it's just inspired by it, Human AU, Inspired loosely by the song "Miles Away" by The Maine, M/M, Posted on Wattpad as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 09:59:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7840366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laffytaffylafayette/pseuds/laffytaffylafayette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kiku remembers the summer when he met Alfred.</p>
<p>Nothing besides the writing belongs to me. All rights go to whoever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miles Away

That summer was the best one Kiku had yet. He had spent it in California, and had met Alfred. Alfred was amazing. Seriously, Kiku thinks that meeting Alfred is probably one of the top events on his list of best things that have happened to him. He initially didn't plan on going to California, though. In fact, it was his older brother Yao who had dragged him along. And boy, Kiku is sure glad that he did. 

California was amazing, to say the least. There wasn't any rain to interrupt their travels, and everything they saw was amazing. They stopped at multiple national parks - Yosemite and Sequoia were among them. They had also traveled to different cities. They stayed in San Francisco the longest. But that's not where he had met Alfred. They had met at the Hetch Hetchy dam. 

That is a rather unusual place to meet. How did they meet, you may ask? They were not actually on the dam itself, but on one of the trails around it.

It was nice out, that day. There were a few large, puffy clouds in the sky, and the sun was visible. It wasn't too hot, despite it being summer. They were at a higher elevation, so that was a contributor to the temperature. Due to the elevation, the air was crisp, making it a little harder to breathe than at sea level. That didn't cause any troubles, though.

Kiku had gone on the trail alone that day. He had been itching to get away from his brother for the past week and was looking for any opportunity to spend some time looking around without him. That may sound rude, and a little ungrateful, as his brother had payed for the trip, but Yao could get annoying sometimes. Kiku still loved him, though, like any brother would.

It was quiet. There wasn't anyone near where Kiku was, at least. You could hear birds, and the leaves rustling in the wind. The roar of the water that was flowing through the dam drowned out a lot of the other noises you wouldn't have heard if you were not paying attention.

There was a loud cry up ahead, disrupting the peacefully and lulling noises of the environment around him, making Kiku run along the trail to see what was happening.

And there he was. The sight of him almost made Kiku stop in his tracks. That man had beautiful golden-blonde hair that practically shone in the sunlight. A small tuft of that hair stuck up in an almost endearing way.

The man looked up at Kiku.

His eyes. The eyes werent shallow, they were depths if blue. They were almost cerulean, but lighter. Just darker than a baby blue. It was a common colour, but seeing it on him made it seem like it was the rarest shade of blue to be found. And they gleamed as the light hit them.

And his arms... They looked muscular... He almost wondered what...

A clearing of the throat made Kiku realise he had been staring, and heat flushed his face.

"I- are you okay? Do you need help?" Kiku asked.

The man nodded and tried standing up from where he sat on the ground. He hissed lightly in pain and Kiku winced. He looked tall from what Kiku could tell. "Yeah, tripped on a root. Probably sprained it or something."

"Uh..." Dammit. What could Kiku do? He could call someone, though he doubted there would be a good signal back here. Did Kiku even bring his phone? Probably not. He wasn't going to risk hearing his phone go off incessantly as Yao texted and/or called him. Maybe he could help him back...? Possibly. Although Kiku wondered if he himself would be able to help him. "Can you stand?"

He hesitated before clumsily rising to stand on one foot, the other lightly touching the ground. He sold there shakily for a second before replying. "Kinda."

"Hmm... I don't suppose you can walk? And don't try it, by the way, you could hurt yourself more." Kiku added the last part hastily.

The man laughed lightly, and it was probably the cutest laugh Kiku had heard. "Good idea." They stood there awkwardly for a second. "So, uh, do you mind helping me back? I know it's a long walk, and we can stop if you need to."

"If I need to stop? Well, I am not he one who is injured here." Kiku replied slowly.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay. So, are you gonna help me back or not?"

"I- Yes!" Kiku practically squeaked that and heat made it's way up his neck again.

They stood there awkwardly again, before Kiku realised he was supposed to be helping him. He quickly made his way over to him and felt the man lean against him for support. Kiku stiffened for a second before relaxing. He was helping him. Nothing was wrong about that.

"I never caught your name." The man stated.

"Kiku, and you?" He replied politely.

"Alfred."

Alfred. It was a common name. Kiku wondered why it felt special when it was him who had that name. It seemed right. Sometimes names don't match a person, but Alfred fit him.

"Nice to meet you, Alfred. We're going to try and get back now. Let me know if we're walking too fast."

Alfred nodded and with that, they started to walk back. They were already a good twenty minutes down the trail, and of they were walking normally, it would probably be a bit longer, as they would most likely been conversing. But at the speed hey were going at, it took a good half hour to forty five minutes to just get back to the dam, and through the tunnel. From there, roughly another ten minutes until they were at parking, where a group of three people rushed up to them.

"Alfred! What happened?" One of them had asked. He spike with a French accent.

Alfred explained quickly and him and his family thanked Kiku. Kiku had told them it was nothing and the family was off.

~~

It was unexpected to run into Alfred again. This time, it was in the San Francisco Bay area. Kiku was once again alone, thankfully, or Yao would have shooed off the loud American. That would have sucked.

"Hey, what was it? Oh! Kiku!" A voice called. Kiku recognised that voice. He turned around a few times before pinpointing where it came from. Alfred.

Alfred was standing maybe ten feet away from him. His blue eyes glittered with excitement, as if he was a little kid who had just gotten a new puppy. They matched the water of the bay behind them. Or maybe it was the sky? Both. His eyes reflected both.

His hair was still as golden, but this time the sun was behind him, giving his hair an almost halo effect. It was magnificent.

He also seemed able to stand and walk again, as he was not standing there in an awkward position, and no hint of pain was apparent in his eyes.

"Hello, Alfred." Kiku greeted hesitantly. Since when did he run into people like this again?

"It's totally awesome that we ran into each other again! And thank you, again, by the way, for helping me."

Kiku nodded. "Y-yeah. And you're welcome."

Alfred shuffled his feet awkwardly. "My dad told me to thank you again, if I ever ran into you again. I doubted I would but... We should go do something together! I'll pay if we need to! It'll be a thank you gift!"

Kiku laughed lightly. "I don't think that will be necessary."

Alfred looked like a sad puppy. "Oh come on! I really want to make it up to you! Please?"

Kiku sighed. "Fine."

Alfred smiled a flashing grin. Kiku noted that his teeth were pearly white. He pumped his fists in the air in success. "Yay! Okay! Is there anything you want to do?"

Kiku shook his head. "I'm not sure. I do not know the area very well."

"Oh! Well I guess I will give you a tour, then. If that's okay with you. I know San Fransisco pretty well."

"I guess that will work." Kiku was honestly okay with anything. He was spending time with Alfred!

"Awesome! Let's do this!" He smiled happily, and Kiku couldn't help but smile back. Alfred's smile was contagious.

And so, they toured the Bay area. They really didn't tour much of the main part of the city, beside a cable car ride. Anything else would have taken too long.

They eventually stopped around four to get something to eat. Kiku really didn't care where they ate, so he let Alfred choose.

They ended up eating at some obscure deli place that Alfred seemed to like. After they had sat down with their food, they started talking.

"Thank you, Alfred." Kiku said after a moment. "You really didn't have to do this."

Alfred smiled, which cause Kiku to smile. Kiku also noted his eyes became a brighter blue when he smiled... "It was nothing! Don't worry about it!"

Kiku nodded as took a bite out of his meal.

"So, where are you from? I don't recognise your accent." Alfred asked.

"Japan." Kiku had answered after a moment. "And you?"

"That's so cool! I'm just from New York, although I used to live in Europe for a while. What's it like in Japan?"

"It's definitely different. It's nice enough, I guess. Although America is better in some aspects, while Japan is better in others."

Alfred nodded. "Yeah, that's agreeable."

They conversed about other little things throughout their meal, until they both finished. It took longer to finish than it should have, only because of the small talk, and the fact that they both were trying to drag out the conversation.

"I'm afraid I must be taking my leave now." Kiku had stated after a moment of silence.

Alfred sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah..." He stared awkwardly at Kiku for a moment. "Hey... Do you mind if we exchange numbers? I think it would be cool to stay in touch..."

"I- what?" Kiku's eyes widened. He, Alfred, wanted to exchange numbers? With him? Wow.

Alfred's face went red and he looked at the floor, his hair falling in his eyelashes. "Never mind..."

Kiku felt himself blush and he shook his head in an almost frantic manner. "No! It's fine. We can exchange numbers if you want."

Alfred's head snapped up. "Really? Okay! Hold on. Let me get something to write on." After a moment, he was able to acquire a pen and a napkin. He quickly wrote down his number and gave it to Kiku. Kiku, in return, wrote down his, and handed that to Alfred.

Alfred smiled his brilliant and endearing smile. He offered his hand for Kiku to shake.

Kiku took his hand and returned the smile. They both bid their farewells and were off on their own ways.

~~

It was that summer that Kiku likes to remember on early mornings where he sits outside with a warm drink. He wasn't sure why he liked to think of specifically that summer. Maybe because it was the one where he had met Alfred.

He heard the door open and close behind him, and a pair of strong arms wrap around his torso. A light kiss was placed to the back of his head and a trail of them down his neck and shoulders.

"What're you thinking about? You've been out here forever." A voice muffled by his hair questioned.

"The summer where I met you."

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this is kind of bad but I am also proud of it and I have mixed feelings about this.


End file.
